Wednesday 14 December 2011 07.59 EST
First published on Wednesday 14 December 2011 07.59 EST

Neville Thurlbeck, the sacked chief reporter of the News of the World, has claimed that knowledge of phone hacking "went to the top" of the newspaper "but no further".

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Media Show broadcast on Wednesday, Thurlbeck said: "The News of the World were provided with evidence by me as to where the culpability lay. Now at that point the News of the World were faced with two choices, either deal with the problem or ignore the problem and on that decision rested, I believe, the future of the News of the World."

Asked how his bosses reacted when Thurlbeck allegedly provided them with evidence of wider hacking, he replied that they said: "'Leave it with us'. And eventually they fired me."

Thurlbeck told the BBC that: "It was clear when the 'For Neville' email came about that phone hacking was taking place."

The so-called 'For Neville' email contained transcripts of private messages left by Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor and was compiled by private investigators working for the News of the World in June 2005.

It is inferred that the transcript was provided to, or was intended to be provided to Thurlbeck.

Thurlbeck, who worked under Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson while both were editors of the NoW, has previously insisted that he took no part in voicemail interception despite his name being on the so-called "for Neville" email.

The email came to the attention of the News of the World's lawyer Tom Crone in May 2008 and Crone subsequently spoke to Thurlbeck about it.

In his interview with The Media Show, Thurlbeck was asked who knew about widespread hacking at the News of the World.

He claimed: "I think it went to the top of the News of the World and then no further. It should have gone down the corridor to Rebekah Brooks and then to James Murdoch."

Thurlbeck did not say under which News of the World editor it "went to the top".

Brooks was editor of the News of the World from 2000 until 2003, during which time it is alleged that a private investigator hacked into murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's mobile phone. She moved to become editor of The Sun and then chief executive of News International.

Coulson was editor of the News of World between 2003 and 2007, when he resigned and was replaced by Colin Myler.

Asked whether Thurlbeck thought Brooks, who resigned at the height of the phone-hacking scandal in July, knew of wider hacking at the News of the World, he said: "I don't think she did at all. I've got no doubt at all that if James Murdoch had have been made aware he would have instigated an investigation into it at the very least and informed the board as to why he was making a record privacy payout to Gordon Taylor."

However, Tom Watson, the Labour MP and prominent critic of News International, immediately cast doubt on Thurlbeck's version of events.

Watson said on Twitter that the interview was "totally inappropriate", adding: "He's appealing his sacking. He told me a completely different story."

The Labour MP said last month before the Commons culture committee that he had taped a private conversation between himself and Thurlbeck, and that the former News of the World reporter said Tom Crone, the former legal manager at the title, indicated he would show the damning "for Neville" email to James Murdoch.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.